Place-Name Meanings P to S

P Pelaw to Prudhoe

Pelaw (Tyneside)

Pelaw near Gateshead and near Durham could derive from peel
law, a hill with a watch tower on the top. Pelaw is near Pelton which
suggests that a personal name Pel may be a factor. See also Tow Law.

Pelaw Wood (County Durham)

See Pelaw, Tyne and Wear

Pelton (County Durham)

See Pelaw

Pennines (County Durham)

The Pennines are first mentioned in an eighteenth century
chronicle supposedly made by a medieval monk called Richard of
Cirecncester, but the work is a forgery. We have no early recorded name
for the Pennines which is amazing when we consider that these hills
form the most siginficant upland region in England. It is possible that
the name itself is a forgery and that the name has stuck. It is worth
remembering that the ancient British and Welsh word for hill was Pen,
but we cannot be certain of the antiquity of the name of the Pennines.

Penshaw (Wearside)

The first part is possibly the Welsh word Pen meaning hill.
Shaw could mean woodland, but early spellings of the name are Pencher.

Peterlee (County Durham)

Peterlee is a new town built in 1948 to house miners from
nearby villages in the Easington district. The town is named after a
former miner and trade union leader called Peter Lee (1864-1935), who
became the leader of England's first all Labour County Council at
Durham in 1909. Mr Lee was born at the local colliery village of
Trimdon Grange and started work at the age of ten as a pony driver at
Littletown Colliery near Durham City. In 1886 he emigrated to the
United States and worked in Ohio , Kentucky and Pennsylvania before
returning to County Durham in 1887. Peterlee town was named after Mr
Peter Lee at the suggestion of the former engineer and surveyor of
Easington Rural District Council, Mr C.W.Clark. The new town of
Peterlee incorporates the site of an ancient abandoned medieval village
called Yoden which lay near to where the Eden Lane playing fields are
sited today.

Philadelphia (Wearside)

See Quebec

Piercebridge (County Durham)

Piercebridge was recorded as Persebrig in 1104 and Priestbrigg
in 1577. Brigg is an old word for a bridge and there has been a bridge
at Piercebridge since Roman times. The meaning of the name is a matter
of dispute and there are three main theories. One theory is that this
was the site of a bridge built or owned by someone called Piers, but
Piers is a French name and there is evdidence that the name of
Piercebridge predates Norman French settlement. 'Bridge of the priest'
is possible, but the form Priestbrigg is quite late, leaving the theory
that the name is in fact Pershe - bridge - meaning 'the bridge of Osier
twigs', but of course all of the theories may be wrong. The present
bridge at Piercebridge is 260 yards upstream from the point where the
original Roman bridge crossed the River Tees. Significant visible
remains of the wooden Roman bridge were washed away by a great flood in
1771. It was here that the Roman road called Dere Street crossed the
Tees on its way from York to Newstead on the River Tweed. At
Piercebridge Dere Street formed the Via Principalis or main street of a
Roman fort called Magis or Morbium. Much of the present village
including the village green ocuupies the site of this fort, while the
nearby 'tofts' are on the site of a vicus or Roman civilian settlement
which lay just outside the boundaries of the Roman fort. A number of
Roman finds, notably coins and a bronze statue of two oxen and a
ploughman have been found at Piercebridge, the latter displayed in the
British Museum. Some of the Roman stones used in the building of the
fort were later used in the construction of the church at nearby
Gainford.

Pittington (County Durham)

An Anglo-Saxon name meaning Pidda's peoples' farm.

Pity Me (County Durham)

It has been suggested Pity Me was the site of a small lake or
'mere' and that the name means Petit Mere, Petty Mere or Peaty Mere. A
more fanciful suggestion is that St Cuthberts coffin was dropped here
by wandering monks on their way to Durham. The miracle working saint is
said to have pleaded with the monks to be more careful and take pity on
him. Another suggestion is that Pity Me is the cry of the Peewits (or
Lapwings) which inhabit the area. Other Pity Mes can be found in the
north of England, including a small place near Barrasford in the North
Tyne valley, and a Pity Me near Bradbury in south Durham. The name of
Tynedale's Pity Me is said to be a corruption of the Celtic words
Beddan Maes meaning Field of Graves. There are a number of other
theories for the Pity Mes in Durham and Northumberland, but the most
likely explanantion is that it was used to describe poor quality
farmland. It was therfore perhaps a field name given by a farmer to
help identify a particularly field that was difficult to farm.
Sometimes these fields are known as 'Fatherless Fields' for reasons
which I will leave to the imagination. (See also Quebec).

Pity Me (Northumberland)

See Pity Me, Durham.

Pont, River (Northumberland)

Related to the Welsh word Pant meaning valley.

Ponteland (Northumberland)

An old village swallowed up by an expanding modern town. The
name means land by the River Pont or an island formed by it.

Port Clarence (Teesside)

Port Clarence at the northern terminus of the famous
Transporter Bridge owes its origin to the Victorian entrepreneur
Christopher Tennant who developed the Clarence Railway here between
1828 and 1833. Chrisopher Tennant had named Port Clarence and the
Clarence Railway after William the Duke of Clarence, who later became
King William IV. The Clarence Railway linked coal mines in south Durham
with coal staithes on the River Tees. The staithes were known as the
Clarence staithes and became the site of Port Clarence. Port Clarence
rivaled the newly born port at Middlesbrough on the opposite side of
the Tees.

Portobello (Tyneside)

See Quebec

Portrack (Teesside)

Site of a loop in the River Tees which was made redundant by a
cut or canal. Here heavy ships were pulled by ropes to the port of
Stockton. This was known as tracking - hence Portrack.

Pounteys Lane (County Durham)

The name of a lane at Middleton St George. It leads to the
site of Pons Tesie - the name of a Roman bridge that crossed the Tees
here. The Roman name Pons Tesie means bridge of Tees. Pountey's Lane, a
corruption of this name, follows the course of a Roman road.

Preston (Tyneside)

See Preston on Tees

Preston le Skerne (County Durham)

Situated on the River Skerne. See also Preston on Tees.

Preston on Tees (Teesside)

Preston Hall at Preston on Tees was not built until 1825 when
the building was erected by David Burton Fowler. It was in that year
that the Stockton and Darlington Railway was built and the line ran
close to the grounds of the hall. A famous race between Locomotion
Number One and a stagecoach is said to have taken place along this
stretch of the line but the victor is unrecorded. In 1882 Preston
passed into the hands of Robert Ropner of Stockton and in the following
century the hall was acquired by Stockton Borough Council who opened it
as a museum. Before 1825 there was no hall at Preston but the manor had
belonged to the Eden family in the eighteenth century and the Seton and
Sayer families from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century. At the
time of the Boldon Buke, the manor was owned by among others Orm, son
of Cockett and Adam son of Walter de Stockton. The very first owner of
the manor of Preston is not known but the name gives us a clue. Preston
derives its name from the Anglo-Saxon Prest-Ton meaning priest farm, a
farm belonging to a priest. It is one of several Prestons found
throughout the country which include Preston le Skerne on the River
Skerne north of Darlington, Preston near North Shields, Preston Pans
(Salt Pans) in Scotland and Preston on the River Ribble in Lancashire.
All these Prestons will have originally belonged to a priest, as did
Prestwick in Strathclyde and Prestwich near Manchester. Prestatyn in
Wales is a Welsh interpretation of the English name Preston.

Prudhoe (Northumberland)

An Anglo-Saxon name meaning Prud's spur of land.

Q Quaking Houses to Quebec

Quaking Houses (County Durham)

At South Moor near Stanley is the former colliery village of
Quaking Houses which is one of a number of puzzling place names in the
old pit district of County Durham. The only clue to the name is that a
pit called Quaker House Pit once stood near this site, recorded in 1873
as a pit with two shafts. The name of this pit suggests that the
present place name may derive from some kind of Quaker Meeting House
located somewhere in the area. Later, a street of houses called Quaking
House Cottages were built near the pit to house the miners. Perhaps the
real answer to the question of Quaking Houses may be found a little
further north at Annfield Plain where a farm called Quaking House, was
marked on the 1865 Ordnance Survey map. A colliery railway line called
the Quaking House Branch line ran past this farm and terminated at the
Quaker House Pit, but this leaves the question how did the farm get its
name ?

Quarrington Hill (County Durham)

The first part of the name is a corruption of Quern-Dun - the
hill where Quern stones were excavated. Hill has been added when dun
changed to ton.

Quebec (County Durham)

This village near Esh Winning is one of a number of places in
the North East which take their names from other parts of the world.
Quebec was a mining village and apparently named because the fields in
the area were enclosed in 1759, the year General Wolfe captured Quebec
from the French in Canada. It is not unusual for fields to be named
after foreign towns and places and often occurs where fields were
situated at a considerable distance from their home farm. Thus fields
could have names suggesting remoteness like Botany Bay or Nova Scotia.
This kind of name has also gained prominence in the North East because
they were topical names for nineteenth century coal mining or ironstone
villages. North East place names which may fall into this category
include New York near Whitley Bay, Toronto near Bishop Auckland,
Philadelphia near Houghton le Spring and Canada which is part of
Chester-le-Street. California can be found in North Yorkshire where it
is part of the village of Great Ayton and is also found in Cleveland as
a district of Eston in Middlesbrough. When far off field names were not
available battles or places connected with the Boer War or Crimean War
could also provide a source for naming Durham's nineteenth century
villages. Thus we have Bloemfontein near Stanley, Portobello near
Birtley from a Battle of 1739, and Inkerman near Tow Law, named from
the 1854 Crimean War Battle of Inkerman. With imagination it is quite
possible to travel the whole world without leaving the North East.

R Raby Castle to Rothbury

Raby Castle (County Durham)

Raby Castle near Staindrop, stands near a Roman road and has
ancient origins. The castle is largely medieval, but history records
that Canute, the Viking King of Denmark, Norway and England
(1017-1035), owned a mansion in the area. Nearby Staindrop, a Viking
place name meaning stony settlement, is recorded as the place belonging
to Canute, but some believe the oldest portions of Raby Castle formed
Canute's home. Raby's Viking name derives from Rey-by, the boundary
village. It is one of the northernmost Viking by or village place names
in eastern England. Perhaps Raby stood on the northern boundary of
Canute's British territory. Roman roads were often used by Vikings and
Saxons as boundary marks. On Stainmore, near Teesdale, there is an
ancient stone cross called the Rey Cross. This means boundary cross and
stands near the A66 which follows the course of a Roman road here. Rey
Cross like Raby formed a boundary between Dark Age territories, but
also resembles Raby in its association with a Viking king. Rey Cross
marks the spot where Eric Bloodaxe, King of Jorvik was murdered in the
year 954 AD. Eric was murdered in an ambush by Maccus an agent of the
powerful Saxon Earl of Bamburgh who disagreed with Eric's claim to all
the land north of the River Tees. Eric's death crushed the Viking
Kingdom of York and severely reduced the power of the Vikings in the
north until the crowning of King Canute in 1017.

Ravensworth (Tyneside)

Ravensworth a village situated close to the A66 between
Barnard Castle and Scotch Corner and was also the name of a castle
which existed in the Team valley near Gateshead. Both Ravensworths
belonged at one time to a person or persons called Hrafn or Hraefn.
Ravensworth Castle, near Gateshead was demolished in 1953, but was a
one time home of the Liddell and Gascoigne families. In earliest times
it was a 'worth', or an enclosed settlement belonging to Hraefn. Most
places ending in 'worth' are Anglo-Saxon in origin and refer to an
enclosed settlement of some kind. Ravensworth, North Yorkshire, however
does not have this meaning as Ravensworth Near Gateshead because its
early recorded forms are Rafneswad, Ravenswat and Ravenswath. This name
seems to mean the wath belonging to Hraefn. Wath was the Viking word
for a ford and would suggest that the stream that passes through the
centre of Ravensworth village was forded in Viking times. The similar
Viking place name Ravensthorpe meaning Hraefn's farm occurs in West
Yorkshire and Northamptonshire but some place names beginning in
'Raven' are likely to refer to the bird of that name. Ravenscar between
Scarborough and Whitby means Ravensker the rock of the raven, from the
Viking word Sker. Other Raven names include Ravenseat in Swaledale, the
seat or hill of the raven and Ravenglass in Cumbria which derives from
the Celtic Rann Glas meaning the part share of land belonging to
someone called Glas.

Redcar (Teesside)

Redcar seems to have been situated in pooorly drained land as
'car', the second part of the name derives from the Viking word Kjar
meaning marshland. Neighbouring Marske, also betrays boggy origins as
its name is a Scandinavian pronunciation of the English word marsh.
Redcar, called Redker in 1165, Ridkere in 1407 and Readcar in 1653
means either the red coloured marshland from the red stone in the area,
or reedy marsh. The second is quite likely as the word reed often
occurs as 'red' in English place names. In 1510 Redcar was described as
a 'Poore Fishing Toune' and was for many centuries overshadowed by its
neighbour Coatham which held a market and fair from 1257. Coatham's
name derives from Cot -Ham and means the shelter homestead. It was
perhaps a place where fishing boats took shelter from the stormy seas.
Coatham was one of the most important fishing villages in the area and
in 1801 it had a population of 680 people. Comparable population
figures in the district show that 993 people lived at Hartlepool, 167
at Thornaby and only 25 people lived at Middlesbrough. Redcar rose from
obscurity in 1846 when an extension of the Stockton and Darlington
Railway brought industry and seaside day trippers to the area. Redcar
quickly expanded and soon absorbed Coatham. A further extension of the
railway to Saltburn in 1861 stimulated the population growth there and
although the building of Saltburn Pier in 1868 was a major attraction,
Redcar's racecourse, opened in 1872 ensured that day-trippers continued
to flock. Industrial growth in the late eighteenth century came in the
form of ironworks and later steelworks of which the most prominent were
those of Dorman and Long. In the following century Dorman and Long
built a new town called Dormanstown right on Redcar's doorstep to
accomodate the expanding workforce of the district and add further to
the population of the Redcar area.

Rede, River (Northumberland)

This may be an Anglo-Saxon name describing reedy beds in the
river.

Redheugh (Tyneside)

A corruption of Reed Haugh, the flat meadowland where reeds
grew

Redmarshall (County Durham)

Originally Reedmerehill, the hill by a reedy lake.

Redworth (County Durham)

A farm where reeds grew.

Rey Cross (County Durham)

Situated on Stainmore. See Raby Castle

Rokeby (County Durham)

A Viking name meaning Hrocca's village

Romaldkirk (County Durham)

Romaldkirk is a picturesque little village, with a nearby
stream called the Beer Beck. The village is on the south bank of the
River Tees in County Durham, but should really be in Yorkshire. A huge
portion of south Teesdale was taken from Yorkshire and moved into
County Durham during the local government reforms of the 1970s. Only
the north bank of Teesdale is truly County Durham. Romaldkirk means the
church of St Rumwald. The word Kirk is an alternative word for church,
used in northern England and Scotland. Romaldkirk's church known as the
cathedral of the dales is dedicated to St Rumwald, about whom we know
very little because of his short life. Rumwald was the son of a
Northumbrian king, and is said to have spoken on the very first first
day of his life, crying out the words I am a Christian. With such a
miracle, there was no hesitation in having the baby prince baptised,
but despite his remarkable talent for learning speech, he was unable to
hold onto life and died of ill health two days later. St Romwald's
resting place is recorded as Buckingham, but there may be some
connection with Romaldkirk, which the history books have not recorded.

Rookhope (County Durham)

A valley or hope frequented by rooks or similar crows. This
Weardale side-valley was the setting for the Rookhope Ryde a famous
border raid which took place in 1569

Roseberry Topping (Teesside)

There is an old saying When Roseberry Topping wears a cap, let
cleveland then beware of a clap which is a recognition that the
cloud-topped summit of this famous landmark could result in a heavy
clap or shower of rain. Roseberry Topping is sometimes known as The
cleveland Matterhorn because of its distinctive shape and is steeped in
local legend. In olden times the hill was closely associated with the
Vikings and the word Topping comes from Toppen an Old Danish word for a
hill. Roseberry is a corrupted name which derives in an unexpected way
from the nearby settlement of Newton-under-Roseberry. It is known that
the original Old Norse name for Roseberry Topping was Odins-Beorg
meaning Odins Hill. Odin was the most important Viking God and it is
possible that Roseberry was a centre for his worship in Pagan times.
Over the years, the name Odinsberg gradually changed to Othensberg,
Ohenseberg, Ounsberry and Ouesberry. Association with the village then
called Newton-under-Ouseberry at the foot of the hill led to the modern
name Roseberry when the final R of under produced the initial letter of
the modern name. Newton under Ouseberry is now called Newton under
Roseberry. Incidentally the Norse God Odin is still remembered by his
alternative Saxon name of Woden from which the name of Wednesday
(Wodens Day) derives.

Rothbury (Northumberland)

This means Rotha's settlement

S Sacriston to Sunderland

Sacriston (County Durham)

Sacriston was historically Segersten or Segersten Heugh. Early
recorded spellings of the name include Serysteyn Hogh in 1312,
Sackerston Heughe in 1577 and Segerston Hough in 1637. A Heugh or Hough
is a spur of land which in this case belonged to the Sacristan of
Durham Cathedral. The Sacristan was the man responsible for looking
after vestments and sacred vessels and was often responsible for
cleaning and repairs. One of the most famous Sacritans of Durham was
the relic collector called Aelfred who pinched the Venerable Bede's
bones from Jarrow in 1022 and brought them to Durham. Sacriston, north
of Durham was the site of a country manor belonging to the Sacristan of
Durham and the site was occupied by Sacriston Heugh Farm which stood
near to Sacriston Colliery. The medieval remains of the Sacristan's
manor were demolished in 1955 and the colliery was closed in 1985.
Sacriston, the village really takes its name from the nearby Segerston
Heugh, but the whole place is still often known as Seggersten. This
name comes from the old French word 'Segrestein' an Old French form of
the Latin word Sacristanus or 'as sacred'. The word Sexton has the same
root. A French connection can also be found at nearby Witton Gilbert,
pronounced with a soft g. Here the one time owner was a certain Norman
French gentleman called Gilbert de la Ley.

Sadberge (County Durham)

A stone on Sadberge village green proclaims that Queen
Victoria was Queen of Britain, Empress of India and Countess of
Sadberge. The description is accurate, as Sadberge was once the name of
a separate earldom stretching from Hartlepool to Middleton in Teesdale
and had its origin as a Viking wappentake. Wappentakes were places
where weapon taking Vikings would assemble to discuss the affairs of
the district. The name of Sadberge is Viking and derives from the Old
Norse Set Berg meaning flat-topped hill. Set Berg is a place name found
in Iceland, Norway and in Cumbria where it occurs in the form Sedbergh.

Salt Holme (Teesside)

A holme, land near a river infested by salt water.

Saltburn by the Sea (Teesside)

Saltburn can trace its history to at least 369 AD when the
Romans built a watchtower at Huntcliff overlooking the sea. This was in
the later days of the Roman Empire, when there was a serious danger of
barbarian coastal raids and Huntcliff was one of a series of
watchtowers protecting the Yorkshire coast. By 410 AD the Romans had
deserted Britain, which was left to the mercy of raiding Anglo-Saxons
from Germany and Denmark. Saltburn's Roman tower was defended by a
group of Romanised Britons, who met with a sad end. The raiders
brutally murdered them all and dumped their bodies in a nearby well,
where they were finally discovered in an excavation in 1923. The
skeletons of fourteen people, men women and children were found and
were clearly the victims of murder. The responsible Anglo-Saxons, or
another group like them, settled the Cleveland coast and named a local
stream 'Sealt-Burna' meaning the salty stream, perhaps from its salty
water or because of the salt-like alum found in the neighbourhood.
Vikings came three centuries later and changed the names of all the
local burns to becks. The settlement on the Salt Burn retained its
name, but the stream became the Skelton Beck. The little fishing
village of Saltburn grew beneath the prominent Cat Nab. It was a small
place, famed for smuggling and fishing until 1860, when the Stockton
and Darlington Railway was extended to the site and Henry Pease of
Darlington set about the development of the Victorian coastal resort of
Saltburn-by-the-Sea.

School Aycliffe (County Durham)

Aycliffe has a Saxon name meaning oak clearing - (Originally
called Acley) and was a felled area in a great oak woodland that stood
in the district. Later part of Saxon Aycliffe was acquired by a Viking
called Scule who is remembered in the name School Aycliffe. Scula or
Scule was given extensive tracts of land in south Durham by the Viking
Ragnald, as a reward for military service in the year 920 AD. King
Ragnald and his warrior general Scule were Irish Vikings who invaded
the north of England from their colonial base in Dublin, Ireland.
Ragnald seized York from the Danes and appointed himself king of all
the Vikings in Britain.

Scots Gap (Northumberland)

A gap in the hills near Morpeth frequently used in Scottish
raids on southern Northumberland.

Seaham (County Durham)

An Anglo-Saxon name meaning Homestead by the sea

Seaton Carew (Teesside)

Seaton means the farm or settlement by the sea. The land was
once owned by the Carou family.

Seaton Delaval (Northumberland)

Seaton means settlement by the sea. For many centuries the
Norman Delaval family owned land in the area. Nearby Seaton Delaval
Hall was their home.

Shadforth (County Durham)

Sheraton (County Durham)

Sherburn (County Durham)

Sherburn means bright and shiny stream . The local stream from
which it takes its name is now called the Old Durham Beck, it was also
once known as the River Pitting. See also Sherburn in Elmet.

Sherburn in Elmet (County Durham)

Sherburn means the bright stream and is a place name that
occurs in Yorkshire and County Durham. In the south of England the name
usually occurs in the form Sherborne or Sherbourne. Sherburn in Elmet
and the nearby Barwick in Elmet refer to an ancient district of Welsh
origin called Elmet situated between York and Leeds. When the
Anglo-Saxons colonised Britain in the sixth century from Germany and
Denmark, they defeated the native Britons who they called 'Waelisc'
meaning 'foreigner'. This is how we get the name of present day Wales
and its Welsh inhabitants. The Angles from Denmark called their newly
colonised territory England - the 'Angle land' and divided this land
into a number of kingdoms like Northumbria and Mercia, while the German
Saxons called their kingdoms Sussex, Essex and Wessex. In the north
some Welsh speaking native British kingdoms held out against the
Anglo-Saxons into the seventh century. Elmet was one of these kingdoms
and was situated between the River Don and River Wharfe. Elmet's
neighbour, immediately to the west was another Welsh kingdom called
Loidis, from which we get the name of Leeds. Both of these kingdoms,
along with a Welsh kingdom called Meicen, situated in the marshy
heathfields of Hatfield near Doncaster were all eventually subdued by
the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. The survival of their names
commemorates their initial strong resistance.

Shildon (County Durham)

This place name may derive from the Anglo-Saxon words Sclyfe
Dun - a hill with a peak.

Shincliffe (County Durham)

The name Shincliffe, south of Durham City has been recorded in
many forms since the twelfth century, including Sinneclif, Scinneclif,
Sineclive, Shynclyff and Shinkley. The name may mean the hill belonging
to someone called Scynesworth but it is more usually said to derive
from the Anglo-Saxon Scinna Cliffe, meaning the hill of the ghosts,
demons or spectres. It is not known how this area came to be associated
with demonic appearances or what form they took, but the Anglo-Saxons
are known to have been a superstitious race. Shincliffe is an old
settlement and once belonged to the Priors of Durham who owned much of
the land in the area, but nearby High Shincliffe is of more recent
origin. This largely modern estate stands on the site of Bank Top
Colliery Village a community of miners which existed here from 1837
until 1874 when the coal seams ran out. All the residents of Bank Top
Village moved away to seek employment elsewhere.

Shotley Bridge (County Durham)

See Snods Edge

Shotley Field (Northumberland)

See Snods Edge

Skelton (Teesside)

See Marske by the Sea

Skerne, River (County Durham)

Skerne meaning bright stream has virtually the same meaning as
the name of Sherburn near Durham, but Sherburn is an early English
form, while the name of Skerne shows Viking influence. See also
Marske-by-the-Sea.

Skinningrove (Teesside)

This Viking influenced name is though to mean Skinners grove
or pit.

Skirningham (County Durham)

This means the homestead by the Skerne with 'ings' or meadows.

Snod's Edge (Northumberland)

Snods Edge and Shotley Field both lie in southern
Northumberland just beyond the County Durham towns of Shotley Bridge
and Consett. Shotley Field was originally like Shotley Bridge called
Scotley and is thought to mean the ley or clearing of a Scotsman. If
this is the case then there would seem to have been a number of Celtic
settlers in the area, as nearby Wallish Walls means Wall of the
Welshmen. Snods Edge may be derived from snawede an Anglo-Saxon word
for snow, and snods was once a common dialect word in Northumberland.
The name of this place would seem to mean the snows edge or snowy
place. Staying on the theme of snow, Snows Green near Shotley Bridge
refers to Cuthbert Snawe, a man of the cloth who lived in the area in
the eighteenth century. His house is said to have had a large garden or
green. Fortunately there is no evidence of green snow ever falling in
the area.

Snow's Green (County Durham)

See Snods Edge

Snowhope (County Durham)

A valley or hope, where snow is frequently found.

Sockburn on Tees (County Durham)

From Soccabryg - the burgh or stronghold belonging to Socca.
Or perhaps the land at the soke or limit of the Bishop of Durham's
territory. Enclosed by a loop of the River Tees it formed the southern
most portion of the Prince Bishop of Durham's territory. In Anglo-Saxon
times Bishops were consecrated here and in Viking times it was an
important centre of sculpture. It is said to have been inhabited by a
dragon called the Sockburn Worm, which may have inspired Lewis Carroll
to write Jabberwocky.

South Bank (Teesside)

Situated on the south bank of the River Tees. It came into
existence about 1855.

South Shields (Tyneside)

North and South Shields take their name form the word
'schele', meaning a temporary hut or shed. Shiels or shielings are
usually found in the uplands where they were occupied by shepherds who
could shield themselves from the wild weather. It is likely that the
North and South 'Scheles' were similar buildings occupied by fishermen
near the mouth of the River Tyne. North Shields was developed as a port
with wharfs and quays by Prior Germanus of Tynemouth
in 1225, South
Shields was first developed as a port by the Romans. South Shields was
known to the Romans as Arbeia and was the main supply port for
Hadrian's Wall. Arbeia was built around AD 128 and may have actively
traded with the Continent and the Roman port of Londinium, which we
know today as London. Roman occupants of South Shields included a small
unit of bargemen from the Tigris river valley, which is now in modern
day Iraq. These bargemen are thought to have ferried stores up and down
the River Tyne to the Roman forts at Wallsend and Newcastle upon Tyne.
The remains of the Roman fort of Arbeia at South Shields can still be
seen today, situated close to the high ground called the Lawe. Arbeia
is one of the best preserved and most extensively excavated Roman forts
in Britain and includes one of the biggest reconstructions of a Roman
building, a replica of a Roman gateway.

South Stockton (Teesside)

See Thornaby on Tees

South Tyne, River (Northumberland)

See Tyne

Spennymoor (County Durham)

The place name Spennymoor, along with High Spen in North West
Durham and Spennithorne in North Yorkshire, are all thought to contain
an Anglo-Saxon word 'Spen', but its exact meaning is not certain. An
early reference to a fox jumping twice over 'a spenne' has led to the
suggestion that a spen was a hedge or something similar. Attempts to
relate the word to the Anglo-Saxon 'Spannan' meaning to clasp or fasten
or the Old High German Spanan meaning to entice, simply add to the
mystery. Early records of Spennymoor's name include Spendingmor in 1381
and Spennyngmore in 1446, but the only certainty is that 'mor' or
'more' referred to the open moorland of the area that existed before
enclosure. The form Spendingmor contains the element 'ing' which often
signifies a family or kinship group, making it possible that Spen was
someone's name. Spennithorne near Leyburn in Wensleydale is likely to
have a similar meaning to Spennymoor. This place was recorded in the
Yorkshire section of the Domesday Book as Speningetorp in 1086 and as
Spenithorn in 1150. Later variations included Spennigthorn in 1289 and
Spenythorne in 1285. The thorne in Spennithorne, is likely to be a
thorn tree found in the area although the early spelling 'torp' could
be 'thorpe' the Danish word for a small farm. High Spen in Durham and
the Spen valley in western Yorkshire seem to be the only other places
in the country to contain the mysterious word or name spen.

St Helen Auckland (County Durham)

Named from St Helen's Church. See Bishop Auckland

Staindrop (County Durham)

From Steinthorpe, meaning the settlement belonging to a Viking
called Steinn or perhaps the stony settlement..

Stainsby (Teesside)

This was the village or 'by' belonging to a Viking called
Stein.

Staithes (Teesside)

Situated in a deep coastal creek formed by the Roxby Beck,
Staithes has a Viking name meaning landing place. This may be one of
the places on the eastern coast where Vikings landed at the beginning
of their conquest of Northern England. Not all Norsemen landed on the
eastern coast however, as some like the Vikings Croc and Toc sailed
into the Mersey estuary where their staithes are remembered in the
place names Croxteth and Toxteth. In the North Eastern coalfield the
word staithes was later used to describe wooden piers from which ships
were loaded with coal on the Rivers Tyne, Wear and Tees.

Stanghow (Teesside)

Thought to derive from the Viking Stong-how meaning pole hill.

Stanhope (County Durham)

Stony valley

Stanley (County Durham)

Stanley is a fairly common place name found throughout the
country. Stanleys can be found in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Scotland and
many other places throughout the north but the biggest and best know is
Stanley in north west Durham. The name means 'stony clearing' and
consists of the two Anglo-Saxon or 'Old English' words - 'Stan' meaning
stone and 'leah' meaning a clearing in a wood. Stanleys are probably so
named because of the stony soil found in the original clearings. In
south west Durham there is a Stanley Crook near Crook, so named to
distinguish it from Durham's other Stanley. Stanley Crook means the
stony clearing near a bend in a river, stream or a crooked shaped
field. Many place names contain the element 'Stan' and include
Stanhope, the stony 'hope' or valley in Weardale. In Essex Stanford le
Hope - 'the stony ford in the valley' has a similar meaning but often
places called Stanford have had their names corrupted to Stamford as at
Stamford Bridge near York. In some areas Stan can also be spelt Stain
which is why we have numerous places called Stainton or Stanton, both
of which mean 'stony farm'. Occasionally and especially in Viking
settled areas Stain may refer to a person called Steinn, as is the case
of Stainsby near Middlesbrough which was the village or farm belonging
to someone called Steinn.

Startforth (County Durham)

Startforth was in Yorkshire on the south side of the River
Tees opposite Barnard Castle in County Durham. In 1974 this changed and
the south side of the Tees hereabouts including Startforth was moved
into Durham. Barnard Castle is a place name of Norman origin and is not
as old as Startforth, which has an Anglo-Saxon name. Originally
Startforth was called Stradford or Stratford but in the sixteenth
century the name changed to Starforde and later Startforth. Like many
places throughout the country called Stratford, Stradford or Stretford,
Startforth means Street - Ford and all refer to places where Roman
roads crossed rivers or streams by means of a ford. The Roman Road that
crossed the Tees at Starftforth followed the course of the street
called Galgate in Barnard Castle . The Anglo-Saxons named Roman Roads
Streets so place names containing the element Street like Chester-le-Street, although of Roman origin do not actually have Roman names.
Vikings were also associated with the Startforth area and according to
Sir Walter Scott (in Rokeby), near Startforth high they paid their vows
and remembered Thor's victorious name - a reference to the Thorsgill
Beck a mile downstream. It is not likely that the Vikings named
Startforth because the Vikings called fords waths. Ten miles east of
Starforth at Gainford a wath linked the settlements of Gainford and
Barforth on either side of the River Tees. See Gainford.

Stella (Tyneside)

The place Stella which you mentioned 'was near Blaydon' is
still near Blaydon and its name derives from 'stelling' meaning a
cattle fold. Stella had a colliery as early as the sixteenth century
and was one of the main collieries to supply coal to Elizabethan
London. It was the site of the Jacobean Stella Hall which was once the
home of the Tempest and Towneley families. In Victorian times it was
the home of the radical politician Joseph Cowen who once entertained
Garibaldi at the hall. The hall was demolished in 1953 to make way for
a housing estate.

Stockton-on-Tees (Teesside)

Stockton, Billingham and Norton all have Anglo-Saxon names
with the typical Anglo-Saxon place name endings 'ton' and 'ham' meaning
farm, or homestead. The three places along with Thornaby on the
opposite side of the Tees are all part of the Borough of
Stockton-on-Tees. Thornaby's name ending in 'by' indicates a Viking
settlement and is one of a number of 'by' names on the south side of
the river, which are virtually absent from the north bank. Of the three
Anglo-Saxon settlements on the north side, Stockton is the most
important, but in early times Billingham and Norton were the main
centres and were especially important in Saxon times. Stockton's name
is thought by some to derive from the Anglo-Saxon word 'Stocc' meaning
log, tree trunk or wooden post. Stockton's name could therefore mean a
farm built of logs. This is disputed because when the word Stocc forms
the first part of a place name it usually indicates a derivation from
the similar word 'Stoc', meaning cell, monastery or quite simply place.
'Stoc' names along with places called Stoke or Stow, usually indicate
farms which belonged to a manor or religous house. It is thought that
Stockton fell into this category and perhaps the name is an indication
that Stockton was an outpost of Durham or Norton which were both
important Anglo-Saxon centres. This is a matter of dispute but Stockton
was only a part of Norton until the eighteenth century when it became
an independent parish in its own right. Today roles have been reversed
and Norton has been demoted to a part of Stockton.

Stranton (Teesside)

Near Hartlepool strand farm, see also Foggy Furze.

Sunderland (Wearside)

The name derives from Sundered Land, land set asside for a
special purpose. It is thought Sunderland was land sundered from a
monastery in Saxon times. Bede, (673-735 AD), the Anglo-Saxon scribe,
described Sunderland as the place of his birth, and wrote; accended on
sundorlonde pas yclan mynstres. His description suggests that
Sunderland was land separated from the monastery of Monkwearmouth, on
the north bank of the Wear. Monkwearmouth and nearby Bishopwearmouth,
which belonged to the Bishop of Durham, were historically more
important sites than Sunderland itself and for centuries the whole
Sunderland area was better known as Wearmouth. By the seventeenth
century the names Sunderland and Wearmouth were used interchangeably
and this was the case during the Civil War when Sunderland supported
Cromwell and the Scottish blue caps who invaded the north of England in
support of the Parliamentarian cause. Sunderland's stance incensed the
inhabitants of Royalist Newcastle who chanted "Ride through Sandgate up
and down, there youll see the gallants fighting for the crown, and all
the cull cuckolds in Sunderland town with all the bonny blue caps,
cannot pull them down". Sunderland's support for Cromwell earned the
Wearsiders a right to ship coal to London and helped to destroy
Newcastle's powerful monopoly. This spurred on the growth of
Sunderland. Monkwearmouth and Bishopwearmouth were relegated to mere
subburbs of the busy and expanding port.